The Muslim Public Affairs Council announced on Friday that the LAPD’s anti-terrorism bureau has agreed to change the way it handles suspicious activity reports.

Council president Salam Al-Marayati said the LAPD has agreed to keep files only on activity that could be criminal or have “a nexus to terrorism.”

“These checks on the program are not in place now,” Al-Marayati explained. “So if somebody is photographing a building as a tourist, they can easily be put in that system.”

Though LAPD officials did not immediately return a call for comment, Al-Marayati said department officials plan to issue new guidelines in the coming months that will include a means to determine whether officers racially profile when looking for terrorist activity.

“The model we are developing here in Los Angeles is a pioneering effort,” he said. “I don’t see this kind of community engagement with law enforcement taking place anywhere in the country.”

Al-Marayati added that the LAPD stands in stark contrast to the New York Police Department, which was found to have been cooperating with the CIA in collecting information on the city’s Muslim communities.

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As before, information about suspicious activity will be forwarded to a regional analysis center for further vetting and, if necessary, onward for investigation by federal authorities.

Because the LAPD’s analysts find that the vast majority of SARs should be forwarded, it appears the change will have a relatively small impact. Of about 2,700 SARs collected, for example, the LAPD sent all but 66 of them on to the regional analysis center, according to 2010 figures that critics cited in a letter to Chief Charlie Beck. And of the 547 SARs collected in 2011, only 13 included a person’s name, said Deputy Chief Michael Downing, who oversees the LAPD’s counter-terrorism operation. Regardless, Al-Marayati and others praised the department for its willingness to address their concerns. “It was a legitimate point,” Downing said. “We listened.”

If the Bloods & Crips were smart enought to convert to Islam they would be be invinceable. Maybe the city should subcontract them to eradicate the towel head infestation since America has become pussified, has a lesbian in charge of Homeland Security and a Gay Muslim President.